London-based online crafts marketplace LoveCrafts has raised a significant growth round of £26m led by a previous investor in Skyscanner.
The platform is both an eCommerce marketplace and social network, and caters to knitters and other home craft makers. The Series C investment comes from Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), who also invested in Skyscanner before it was sold, and is the largest VC investment in a UK start-up so far this year.
Partner at SEP Stuart Paterson will join LoveCrafts’ board as part of the deal.
“It’s always been our goal to connect makers, designers and creatives across the world in a social and accessible way, and this investment will help us to do this in more markets, with greater scale and better tools,” said LoveCrafts founder Edward Griffith.
“We are delighted that SEP, together with our current backers, share our vision for the business, and confidence in its future.”
Launched in 2012 LoveCrafts now has millions of users across 140 countries and was included in the FT1000 and Sunday Times Tech Track 100, as well as being inducted into Tech City’s Future Fifty programme.
Laurence Garrett, partner at Highland Europe said: “LoveCrafts has demonstrated impressive growth over the last four years and we look forward to continuing our support for the dynamic company as it expands into new international markets and launches new crafts which will introduce a whole new group of committed users to the platform.”
The company currently has 150 members of staff and doubled its revenue each year, with a goal of becoming a $100bn crafting marketplace.